A monologist whose story about Apple and factories in China has come under fire took questions from the public about the controversy Tuesday night in the Washington theater that held the debut for his piece.

Solo artist Mike Daisey has had plenty to say since it was revealed that he made up some things in â€śThe Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,â€ť his tale of horrid labor conditions inside the Chinese manufacturer that makes Apple products.

A lot of it has been: â€śIâ€™m sorry.â€ť

The public radio show â€śThis American Lifeâ€ť had run a version of his story, adapted from his theater show, and then retracted it this monthÂ after learning that he had fabricated information about his visits to the factories. Daisey has since taken a pummeling in the news media.

Editor's note: This post is part of theÂ Overheard on CNN.comÂ series, a regular featureÂ that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.

Journalist Bonita Burton wrote an opinion piece about the implications of gated communities similar to the Sanford, Florida,Â neighborhood where the Trayvon Martin shooting took place. Our readers have much to say about this story.

Video commenter Dyana Glasgow of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says she lived off and on in Sarasota, Florida, for several years and now lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She says she actually feels safer in an urban environment "where people look out for each other," and host events like block parties to interact. She said she wasn't a fan of Florida's gated communities.

"I think it draws attention. You're drawing attention to yourself that you're part of an elite class of people," she said. "It sends a message to anybody who doesn't belong to that community to stay out."

EWillies1961: "Why not create your little enclave behind some walls where things can be the way they use to be? Welcome to what many would make America. Instead of a community of people who share their differences to create a much tastier existence, we isolate (ourselves) because of both externalities, paranoia, and you name it. That is the America we must not allow a migration (toward)."

CNN.com reader texas999Â echoed that sentiment and said people have to be proactive about their safety. FULL POST

[Updated April 12] Police and other officials in Sanford, Florida, have released a number of documents relating to the investigation of the February 26 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin and the arrest of George Zimmerman on a charge of second-degree murder. In this post, weâ€™ve collected some of the documents that show what police initially found at the scene, what authorities have told the public about the case, and other official documents.

Martin, a black 17-year-old, was unarmed when he was shot to death by Zimmerman, a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, as Martin was walking back to the house of his father's fiancee in Sanford.

Zimmerman had called police to report a suspicious person and said he was following Martin, despite being told by a dispatcher he didn't need to do so. He says he killed Martin in self-defense after the teen attacked him in the gated community. Zimmerman wasÂ questioned but not charged, police said, because they lacked evidence to contradict his account.

The case has sparked a national debate about, among other things, race and self-defense laws. Between Zimmermanâ€™s account to police, tapes of 911 calls and accounts from witnesses and others, much is in dispute. (See CNNâ€™s breakdown of what witnesses say happened.)

The initial police reports

Sanford police have released initial reports from the officers who first responded to the shooting scene on February 26. The reports detail what the officers saw when they arrived, officersâ€™ attempts to resuscitate Martin, and a very brief account from Zimmerman. They do not include statements from other witnesses or any investigative information beyond the officersâ€™ initial observations.

The initial police reports describe the case as "homicide/negligent" and "manslaughter/unnecessary killing to prevent unlawful act." City officials have said that all reports need descriptions to help track types of incidents.

â€śThis code does not indicate a formal charge that will be lodged against an alleged offender,â€ť the city said in a news release on Tuesday. â€śIt is used for internal processing and to type cases.â€ť

Citing multiple sources, ABC News reported Wednesday that the lead investigator in the case recommended that Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter after the shooting, but the state attorney's office determined that there was not enough evidence to lead to a conviction.

It also tells residents that an investigation was being conducted and that the department would hold a community meeting.

Answers from police chief

On March 21, with national public interest in the case rising, the Sanford city manager released a letter in which the city police chief answered what he said were frequently asked questions about the shooting.

The letter addresses issues such as why Zimmerman was not arrested and why he was armed. It also answers why the city Police Department hasn't released 911 tapes, though readers should be aware the Seminole County Sheriffâ€™s Office had done so.

More than a month after the shooting, the Orlando Sentinel, citing â€śauthoritiesâ€ť as its source of information, reported that Zimmerman told police that he had lost sight of Martin after trying to follow him and that he was returning to his vehicle when Martin confronted him.

The Sentinel also reported that Zimmerman claimed to police that Martin attacked him before he shot Martin.

On Monday, the city of Sanford released a statement in which it condemned what it called "unauthorized leaks," but confirmed that the newspaper account "is consistent with the information provided to the State Attorney's office by the Police Department."

Affidavit: Zimmerman 'profiled' Martin

In an affidavit of probable cause, a Florida investigator says that the neighborhood watch volunteer "profiled" the victim, Martin, and disregarded a police dispatcher's request that he await the arrival of police.

Zimmermann arrested and booked

On April 11, Zimmerman turned himself in to authorities in Florida. He was was transported that evening to the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, charged with second-degree murder and booked into county jail. On April 12, 47 days after Martin was shot and killed, Zimmerman made his first court appearance. His arraignment was set for May 29.

In the meantime, Zimmerman will stay in jail, segregated from the other inmates. He has access to the commissary, where he purchased $79.84 worth of items.

The jackpot in Friday's Mega Millions lottery drawing has risen to an estimated $500 million, the largest in the game's history, after Tuesday night's drawing produced no jackpot-winning ticket.

The latest estimate, announced around midday Wednesday, is even larger than lottery officials had announced just hours earlier. The initial estimate for Friday's drawing was $476 million, which also would have been a Mega Millions record.

Tuesday's numbers were 9, 19, 34, 44 and 51, with a Mega Ball of 24. That drawing was for an estimated $363 million jackpot, which would have been the game's third-largest.

The game's previous biggest jackpot was $390 million in a March 6, 2007, drawing. That jackpot was split by winners in Georgia and New Jersey.

The growing jackpot has drawn plenty of interest from would-be millionaires. On Monday, lottery officials announced that "stronger than expected sales" prompted them to push up Tuesday's jackpot up from an initial estimate of $356 million to $363 million.

"I see so many different faces every day, and it's not just Tuesday and Friday that they come in. It's every day of the week," Latasha Allen, a manager at a Columbus, Georgia, convenience store, told CNN affiliate WTVM-TV this week about the growing number of lottery players in recent days.

[Updated at 4:58 p.m. ET] The JetBlue pilot whose midair meltdown prompted his co-pilot to make an emergency landing on Tuesday was charged Wednesday in a federal criminal complaint with interference with a flight crew.

[Initial post, 12:25 p.m. ET] JetBlue pilot Clayton Osbon has been suspended pending further investigation of Tuesday's incident in which a flight made an emergency landing, JetBlue spokeswoman Tamara Young told CNN Wednesday.

The race to the Republican presidential nomination remains up in the air.Â Watch CNN.com Live for all the latest news and views from the campaign trail.

Today's programming highlights...

8:30 am ET - Pro-Affordable Care Act briefing - The Supreme Court holds a third day of hearings on the legality of the Affordable Care Act.Â The hearings are not televised, but there's plenty of action outside the courthouse.Â Supporters of the law brief reporters this morning, then rally at 10:00 am ET.Â Senate Democrats discuss the law at 12:00 pm ET, followed by their Republican colleagues at 2:00 pm ET.

10:30 am ET - Santorum talks health care - GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum campaigns in Wisconsin today, starting with a discussion on health care in Sparta.Â He then goes bowling with College Republicans in La Crosse at 12:45 pm ET, followed by a restaurant rally in Onalaska at 2:00 pm ET.

12:45 pm ET - Biden talks economy - Â It's not just Republicans on the campaign trail today, as Vice President Biden heads to Davenport, Iowa, to discuss the U.S. economy.

5:00 pm ET - Gingrich discusses Social Security - He may be laying off staff and charging for photos, but GOP hopeful Newt Gingrich isn't giving up on his presidential aspirations.Â He'll talk the future of Social Security at an event in Washington.

A day after news broke that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted a plan to forge peace, fresh clashes broke out once again across Syria on Wednesday, opposition activists said.

Three members of the Syrian security forces were killed and four defecting soldiers were injured from intense clashes at an entrance to the western city of Rastan, which security forces have been trying to storm, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group.

And fierce fighting erupted between the Syrian security forces and a group of defectors in the southern Daraa province, the observatory said. The group said clashes began after an army soldier threatened residents in the town of Busr el-Harir to hand over the group of defectors or face a military operation.

Opposition activists have said Busr el-Harir has endured shortages of food and medicine since the Syrian army surrounded the town weeks ago.

The reports of violence come after al-Assad accepted a plan laid out by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan to help end the bloodshed.

Top U.S. and Pakistani military officials will hold face-to-face meetings in Islamabad on Wednesday, the first high-level talks since NATO airstrikes killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers, souring relations between the two countries.

Gen. James Mattis, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Gen. John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, will meet with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the chief of staff of the Pakistani Army, according to a statement from the Pakistani military.

The meeting will focus on the inquiry into the airstrikes on November 26, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Pakistani-Afghan border. U.S. and Pakistani officials have disagreed about the causes and circumstances of the episode.

In South Korea on Tuesday, President Barack Obama met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for the first time since the soldiers' deaths.

Obama expressed hope that the United States and Pakistan could arrive at a "balanced approach" to relations in the aftermath of the airstrikes.

Lawyers for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn are expected to argue in a New York court Wednesday that a hotel maid's lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault should be thrown out because his then-job gave him immunity from civil cases.

Strauss-Kahn has denied Nafissatou Diallo's allegations that he sexually assaulted her, but nonetheless resigned as head of the powerful organization days after he was arrested last May.

The criminal case against Strauss-Kahn fell apart last year before it even reached a courtroom when New York prosecutors cited credibility issues with Diallo.

In September, Strauss-Kahn told French television station TF1 that what happened with the maid in a luxury New York hotel suite was a "moral weakness," but denied any violence or aggression.

That's how authorities say they found a 58-year-old partially paralyzed woman who was held against her will in a Queens, New York, apartment by a couple who cashed her social security checks.

Prosecutors say Patrick Donovan, 42, and Mae Washington, 63, lured the victim from an assisted living facility, convincing their one-time neighbor to rent a room in their apartment to save money.

From the time she moved in on January 1 until last week when officers found her, the woman was repeatedly beaten; had her hands, legs and mouth bound with tape; forced to clean up after the couple's dog and cats despite her partial paralysis; and locked in an empty room that could only be opened from the outside, authorities said.

Afraid, the woman - who has not been identified - handed power of attorney for her finances to Washington, and the couple used her social security checks to buy things for themselves, the Queens District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

"The defendants are accused of turning the victim's life into a living nightmare," District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. "Once out of the safe and secure environment of her assisted living facility, the victim was allegedly betrayed by the defendants whom she thought she could trust."

The woman's niece who had not heard from her for months called police Thursday, concerned for her safety.

The Hong Kong Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned a historic ruling that would have allowed overseas maids to seek permanent resident status in the affluent Chinese territory.

The decision is a setback for the rights of tens of thousands of maids from countries like the Philippines and Indonesia who often spend years working in the homes of Chinese and foreigners living in Hong Kong.

One Filipino maid, Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has been working in Hong Kong since 1986, mounted a legal challenge to a government ordinance that excluded domestic helpers from outside Hong Kong from obtaining permanent residency.

She and her lawyers argued that denying maids the possibility of seeking permanent status was unconstitutional under Hong Kong's Basic Law, which sets out the core rights of those living in the city.

A local court in the far western Chinese province of Xinjiang has sentenced to death a Uyghur man who it says led an attack in a busy street last month that left 15 people dead, Chinese state media reported.

The World Uyghur Congress, an exile group, condemned the sentence and contested the Chinese authorities' account of the violence. It also questioned whether the defendant, Abdukerem Mamut, received a fair trial.

The court in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region convicted Mamut of "organizing and heading a terrorist group, and intentional killing" and sentenced him to death on Monday, the Global Times, an English-language newspaper run by the Communist Party, reported.

It said Mamut and other members of the group killed 15 people and wounded 14 others "with axes and knives" in Yecheng County on February 28. The police detained Mamut at the scene and shot dead the other attackers, according to the report.

About This Blog

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